It is the objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus and the methods of using that apparatus for the application of electrical stimulation in combination with manual therapy. More particularly, the present invention includes a handheld apparatus for manual manipulation which is able to provide electrical stimulation and an applicator tip which can be cooled or heated for thermal stimulation.
The treatment of myofascial trigger points and other muscle injuries often involve manual therapy, electrical stimulation, application of heat or cold, or other physiotherapeutic modalities. Often these modalities are used in combination to treat such injuries; however, often the treatment is quite painful for the patient. The work of Travel and Simons in their text “Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction—The Trigger Point Manual” (1998) establishes the basis of the “Trigger Point” or painful locus within a muscle that can either radiate pain, or is non-radiative when depressed. As the treatment of such injuries usually necessitates the use of pressure on these areas, resolving the underlying painful area is frequently itself painful.
Similarly, the acute treatment of myofascial tears and other such musculoskeletal injuries typically involves the application of manual therapy, electrical stimulation, therapeutic ultrasound, or cold/heat application. The goal is to improve healing, reduce inflammation and decrease pain. The combination of such modalities is often more effective than using any one modality by itself, and often the application of any of these therapies can be themselves painful to the patient, as well as placing undue and repetitive stress on the hands of the therapist.
The use of certain waveforms of electrical stimulation are known to interfere with pain signal transduction, thus preventing or ameliorating the discomfort associated with the treatment of musculoskeletal/myofascial disorders, and allowing the treatment to be potentially shorter in duration and more effective overall. Additionally, the use of heat and/or cold at the same time as manual therapy/massage has other advantages that are physiologically well understood, and are the justification for the use of ice massage and other such treatments. In addition, the combination of modalities contributing to the faster recovery from musculoskeletal injuries/myofascial pain disorders results in a more cost-effective way to treat these common problems.
The prior art discloses thermo-electro stimulation probe devices (such as U.S. Pat. No. 9,084,665) capable of applying heating, cooling and/or applying electrical current and/or stimulation to a patient. The limitation of this teaching is that it does not provide a way of providing the thermo-electric stimulation along with deep muscle therapy/massage. This is because of the configuration of the probe body (see item 20 of U.S. Pat. No. 9,084,665). This probe body design does not permit deep muscle penetration in combination with thermo-electrical stimulation.
The present invention differs from the prior art in that it discloses a traditional hand held manual therapy device (often used by chiropractors, physical therapists and veterinarians) configured to be connected to an electro-stimulation device with replaceable applicator tip probes. In this arrangement, deep muscle penetration can be combined with electro stimulation. Further, the replaceable applicator tip probes can be cooled or heated for thermal stimulation.